At a recent instructors\u2019 meeting we had a disagreement or two\u2014nothing serious, but it reminded me of the time a couple of decades ago at a similar such meeting when we spent an hour in heated debate over whether we should teach students to say \u201cJibe-Ho!\u201d or simply \u201cJibing!\u201d to initiate a jibe. We have repeated the same argument at the same meeting every few years. I must confess that I am just as bad as the next guy though I have never participated in that particular debate.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, there is no by-the-book right answer\u2014although many will claim otherwise, which, of course, is why we have disagreements in the first place. For comparison, on my boat with a familiar crew, the command is often simply \u201cOK.\u201d Everyone knows we\u2019re going to jibe and knows what to do and \u201cOK\u201d is completely sufficient. Many race boats count down jibes and tacks to ensure the timing goes perfectly. That\u2019s not in the \u201chow to sail\u201d books either. At Tradewinds, however, we wish to teach reasonably consistent practices and terms that will work with any crew, so as not to confuse our students\u2014and so our students don\u2019t confuse anyone else. \u201cOK\u201d is not going to get it done.<\/p>\n
Once you get out in the world of other sailors you may find that Skipper Jones and Skipper Smith do not do things the same way or give the exact same commands. Does this mean one of them is wrong? Possibly. For example, there is a right and several wrong ways to tie a bowline or a sheet bend. Allowing variation or improvisation is courting disaster. But it is also possible, on some other issue, that neither is wrong. Is there a perfect anchor? Is a full keel better than fin keel? Is a ketch preferable to a sloop? Should all halyards be terminated in eye splices? Which crew-overboard method should you use? How do you coil a line? Do you pronounce it \u201csaloon\u201d or \u201csalon?\u201d Should all lines be led aft to the cockpit? Well\u2026it depends. And not only that, sometimes it is just a matter of what you like or what you\u2019re used to. But most skippers think through this stuff, or at least believe they do, and as a result, they often they get the notion that the other guy doesn\u2019t know beans if they do it differently. The fact that sometimes it is just a matter of the skipper\u2019s preference doesn\u2019t stop sailors from getting in furious dust-ups over these issues.<\/p>\n
As a captain of your own vessel, you\u2019ll have to sort all this out for yourself. For my part, for example, I led lines aft on my little Catalina 22 that never left the Bay, but on my ocean-going boat I didn\u2019t do this. I had my reasons for both arrangements but I can see arguments for doing it exactly the opposite way.<\/p>\n
I have complete confidence that the methods we teach at Tradewinds represent best practices. I learned to sail here and still follow the instructions I received on day one in 99% of what I do, thirty years and 40,000 ocean miles down the road. I have seen no reason to revise them. There are certain minor things I do differently but that is because on my boat maintenance is my job, not someone else\u2019s. At Tradewinds, with a fleet of boats, we need to equip and maintain our boats the same way so our members and boat techs know what to expect.<\/p>\n
However you decide to do things, being a good skipper involves communicating to your crew how you wish things to be done. They won\u2019t necessarily have been taught the same way if they learned from family or another school, or picked it up casually on their own. There is a courteous way to do this without disparaging their skills. And to be good crew, you need to follow the methods the captain requires, and not substitute your own or argue that his methods are improper. \u201cCoil lines that way? Aye, captain.\u201d The ONLY exception to this is when you are asked to do something that you feel is unsafe. Even then, you should ask for clarification before assuming ignorance on the skipper\u2019s part. There might be a factor you aren\u2019t aware of. It\u2019s no good having tension on a boat\u2019s crew, and as surprising as it may be, in all my years of sailing I\u2019ve not experienced it. I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to be aboard boats with crews that can communicate without rancor.<\/p>\n
So, skipper, what\u2019ll it be? Is it \u201cjibing,\u201d or \u201cjibe-ho!\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n
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At a recent instructors\u2019 meeting we had a disagreement or two\u2014nothing serious, but it reminded me of the time a couple of decades ago at a similar such meeting when we spent an hour in heated debate over whether we … Continue reading